NUHW shows no sense of urgency to reach agreement and continues strike threats.
Kaiser Permanente and NUHW met on September 23 and September 24 for our ninth and tenth bargaining sessions. As in our past meetings, we are working hard to reach a new contract that supports you — our mental health and addiction medicine professionals, medical social workers, and psych nurses. We are committed to supporting you in delivering the best care for our members and patients, which starts with timely and convenient access to affordable, high-quality mental health and addiction medicine care.
On Tuesday, September 24, in a good faith effort to advance negotiations and encourage NUHW to meaningfully engage in these negotiations, Kaiser Permanente offered a package proposal with improved Across-the-Board Annual Wage Increases (ATBs) over the 4 years of the contract. We did this even though to date, NUHW has not provided an ATB counterproposal. Our proposal includes:
Kaiser Permanente presented a refreshed proposal for 6 hours of Guaranteed Administrative and Planning Time, and a Roth IRA. As part of that proposal, Kaiser Permanente again rejected NUHW’s Defined Benefit proposal.
NUHW leaders continue to threaten a strike instead of working to make real progress on bargaining issues. NUHW began threatening to strike before our bargaining even began in late July. We know the union’s leadership is willing to call a strike. We also know it would be very unproductive in getting us to a new contract, and very disruptive to the continuity of care for our patients. We also know it will be disruptive for you.
We continue to believe a new contract is possible if both sides collectively and fully engage to discuss and reach agreement on the remaining issues that must be settled to get there. We still have work ahead of us, but a new contract can be achieved if both sides commit to making it happen. Please encourage NUHW leadership to focus on bargaining to reach an agreement, not a strike.
Kaiser Permanente proposed a 30-day contract extension that included retroactivity to October 1, to which NUHW has not yet formally provided a response. We also proposed to meet for additional bargaining sessions this week, offering several additional bargaining dates, including this weekend. The union declined and proposed October 1, 4, 7, 8, and 10. We accepted these dates. These new bargaining sessions are in addition to our previously scheduled September 30 bargaining date.
We will continue to provide regular updates on bargaining. Thank you for continuing to care for our members and patients.
In addition to the package proposal Kaiser Permanente made on Tuesday, September 24, NUHW offered counterproposals on Requests for Temporary Reductions/Alternative Work Schedule/Job Sharing, Professional Hours and Individual Schedule Changes, Preceptors, and New Technology.
After receiving NUHW’s Incentive Metrics counter (which Kaiser Permanente is evaluating), we passed a counterproposal on Associates and maintained our positions in the following areas:
NUHW issued responses to the listing of proposals above, including counters to Subcontracting, Guaranteed Administrative Planning Time, Staffing Committees, and Union Staff Representatives & Shop Stewards & Bargaining Committee.